You don't want Citizen Kane to be your first gig. It must be a terrible burden. When fate parcels it out to you incrementally, it might seem frustrating at the time, but it's a blessing.

I've always avoided physical confrontation. It was part of growing up in Queens — riding the subway to school every day. You definitely had the caribou mentality: Stick with the herd and avoid the predators.

I don't envy people who were born into privilege. It's that struggle that makes you who you are.

This is just a memory, because my mom has been gone since I was twelve, but there was always an appreciation for whatever I did creatively. If I built a tower out of blocks, she'd get out the Instamatic camera to take a picture. This came in handy whenever disappointment was heaped upon me later in life.

You have to create the quiet to be able to listen to the very faint voice of your intuition.

I don't have to look at how much things cost on the menu when I'm ordering food anymore. That was a big deal.

My grandfather always said he didn't care when he got ripped off for money. He said he was most offended when somebody took his time. I didn't understand that at first. But I do now.

I had a writing teacher who said, If you want to learn how to write a screenplay, read The African Queen twice.

Kids don't want to be guitar players anymore. They want to be DJs.

You get your Charlie Parker record and play it over and over again. You play it note for note, and eventually you find your own voice.

I don't get stage fright. I get exhilarated.

Storytelling relies more on instinct than intellect.

Why do people like Star Wars? Why does Avatar play in every country around the world? Why is Shakespeare around for so many centuries? Why does the Bible endure? You're dealing with simple, basic, well crafted stories that are decorated differently. You gotta study the old masters and put the modern-day spin on it.

You tend to gravitate to the things you grew up with. So I like Carvel even though it might not be a gourmet ice cream. I just had it with someone from L. A. He said, "This is what you were craving?" Yeah. Because you grew up with it and you love it.

Sex onscreen? I can't answer that one. I've always been the friend of the guy having sex in the movies.

The definition of friendship changes over time. When you're little, you play next to someone. As you get older, you get to engage, to connect and reveal. Later on, it becomes who you collaborate with and achieve goals with. It becomes bringing out the best in each other. Whatever the version, it's all about overcoming loneliness.

Holding the attention of a very loud family is a challenge when you're a little kid. To get a voice at the table, you better bring it, otherwise you won't be listened to. When you can make adults laugh, you get to hang with the adults. Otherwise you're at the kiddie table.

With Swingers, there was the exuberance of youth — of finally being heard. A lot of that comes out of adolescence, from the frustration of not being heard. When you finally get the conch shell, you want to shout out as loud as you can what's on your mind. We hit a note.

We didn't have a lot of money for lighting, sets, or costumes on Swingers. But it was amazing how much music could emotionally put a perspective on a given scene. It was wall-to-wall Sinatra at first, but we couldn't afford it. When we put a Sinatra song into Elf, it was a big victory for me. I could finally afford Sinatra. And boy, does it do the trick!

As you age, there become fewer and fewer people whose advice is actually relevant.

People want to hear the same song sung over and over again. So it's my job as a filmmaker and storyteller to tell an inevitable story in an unexpected way.

Playing Rocky Marciano was a lot of fun and a good excuse to lose a lot of weight. Fortunately, Rocky was not known for his finesse but for his power. That's a lot easier to fake. I remember feeling bad for Will Smith when he had to play Ali. That's a hard one to fake.

You'll have different problems than you had last time.

The illusion is that the more you put into yourself, the happier you are. When your life becomes about something bigger than you, ironically, that's when it becomes the most fulfilling.

I haven't mastered the skill of listening yet. Maybe one day.

Living to a hundred? My God, you must say goodbye to so many people. I can't imagine.

When it's my time to go, I hope I feel the same feeling I do when we wrap a movie: It was great. It was hard work. I wouldn't trade it for the world. But I'm glad it's over.